A Guilty Conscience
by the late great tate
Summary: Please, Agent Gibbs, you must help me. If something happens, you will never be able to forgive yourself for punishing her for the crimes of her father. Please help her. You can’t save Kelly but you can save my daughter. JIBBS! Rated M for safety.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I own nothing. I am a poor starving student, so please, please don't sue me.

First time writer, long time reader.

Prologue

It was warm inside. Warm and dry. She sat down in one of the booths and peeled off her jacket. The warmth of the room with the softness of the seat made her want to close her eyes and finally sleep. "Stay Awake," she reminded herself. "Just get some food. You have fifteen dollars. Eat. Something…"

"Sugah." She glanced up to see the waitress staring at her. "Are you alright? You looked soaked to the bone and just worn out."

She shrugged, avoiding eye contact. "I'm fine. It's just a little…wet outside. Do you have any hot chocolate?" The waitress nodded and nudged the menu towards her.

"Get something to eat. It'll help you warm up."

"Yes ma'am." Closing her eyes, she leaned against the wall. Eggs. Definitely eggs sunny side up. With bacon. And toast. Maybe a waffle….with whipped cream and strawberries. Oh wait. This was Waffle House….Just a waffle. Sighing she shifted her head against her shoulder and promptly forgot that she needed to stay awake.

The television in the corner changed from the soap opera to an Amber Alert. The waitress grumbled. She just wanted to see if Tommy and Lisa would finally kiss and now some stupid government broadcast. She'd never find out. "Oh god." She muttered as the picture of the missing girlwas shown. She glanced over to the sleeping kid in the booth. "Tom, I need you to call the police. NOW"

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

She jumped up. Why was she hearing a siren? Then, she turned her head to the window. Cars. With flashing lights. Oh my God. She crawled under the booth and began creeping towards the emergency exits. Halfway to the door she bumped into something. Legs. She got up and began to slowly back away.

"Aw. Don't do that. Please? Look, we're not trying to hurt you. I'm Tony, I'm with NCIS. .. we're…we're the good guys. Geez, Gibbs! She's running!"

She pushed through the exit door, ran out into the parking, and almost ran directly into the arms of an older gray-haired man. "Kristina Stover."

He knew her name. He had her cornered, with her back against the wall. There was nowhere to go. No more running, no more safety, she was caught. The man who had tried to get her in the diner came running from inside the restaurant and a darker haired woman joined him.

"Kristina, I know it's been a pretty awful day and a half. You don't have to keep running. Your father is worried about you. Please come with us, we'll get you some food and a change of clothes."

Kristina stared at him, her eyes wide with terror. Slowly, she reached her hand into the back of her jeans. With shaking hands, she pulled out the gun, raised it to her head, and pulled the trigger. There was nothing but a clicking noise.

Uh oh.

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**Shall I continue? **


	2. Negotiations of a different sort

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Really.

Jenny Sheppard jumped awake. She tried to shake the sleep from her head and the faint memories of the smell of bourbon, sweat and sex. "Damn you Leroy Jethro Gibbs." No matter how hard she glared, the cell phone refused to stop ringing. "Sheppard," she croaked. He would know she just woke up. In Paris, he'd always teased her for sounding like a chain smoker in the mornings. Hopefully he'd be too distracted to ask why she was asleep at 01500.

"Sleeping on the job, Director?"

"Still using my team and my resources for personal favors, Gibbs?" There was a pause on the other end of the line. Jenny 1, Jethro, 0. Just because he couldn't see her didn't me she couldn't smirk. Game and escape.

"Smirking will give you wrinkles Jen. " Damn him. "We found the kid. She seems a little spooked."

"Oh? What did you do?" Gibbs usually was good with kids. She had always been confusedly impressed with his ability to handle most children. That was, until she had learned of Kelly. Damn him, his secrets, and Hollis Mann. His gift for making life more complicated was unparalleled. La Grenouille had nothing on this man.

"Nothing."

"What did Tony do?"

"Nothing."

"And McGee?"

"Nothing."

"Ziva?"

"Nothing."

"Then, why are you calling me?"

"We need to find a good shrink. Kid seems a bit upset…tried to use a gun, but only knew just enough to know which end went where and not enough to know that it needs bullets to work."

"Are you asking me for recommendations?"

"You're too insane to get help. I need budgeting approval and for you to handle Child Services." Jen knew she had done something very wrong in a past life. Come to think of it, she wasn't exactly a saint in this one either…

"You owe me. No intimidating Cynthia for a month. No barging into my office for a month. No antagonizing the FBI **and** the CIA for a month. That includes any other agency or group we encounter."

"A week on the intimidation. The barging in ban is a no-go. A good director must be willing to have effective and immediate communication with her team leaders. Otherwise, she cannot facilitate their actions…."

"Did you steal a thesaurus? A month with Cynthia. The barging in will be tolerated as long as it's followed by an apology for being rude. We will still play nicely with others for the next month."

"I can promise a week on the nicely. If we only have deskwork, I wouldn't overplay my hand Jen. I don't need you that much. We can always hand this over to the FBI and give Fornell all the credit. NCIS really doesn't need the good high profile publicity from this…"

"Fine! Bring her back to headquarters. I'll deal….with everything." Some days Jenny hated her job other days, just Jethro. She laid her head back on her stack of papers. Five minutes of naptime was not slacking on the job.

**Thank you everyone who reviewed! Arsene, DrackyB and Crazy-Prune, y'all are so helpful and encouraging. Also, don't stop! The button is riiight there, you know you want to click it…..**


	3. Turn Back Time Pt 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing, so please don't sue.

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! I haven't seen too many episodes (i.e. FIVE) so please let me know if anyone is out of character.

_24 Hours previously._

Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs stared at the e-mail on his computer screen. He had learned two things in the past ten minutes. Prisoners had e-mail and Karma was a bitch. For some strange reason, he had not deleted the e-mail immediately. Maybe he was getting soft in his old age. Maybe for all his rage and all his hate, he didn't wish the pain on anyone else. Even if he had killed his Shannon and Kelly.

"Boss?" Leave it to DiNozzo to notice he was leaving early. "can we go too?" It was like having an almost housebroken puppy. Just a few more gentle reminders….or head slaps and he would eventually learn. Hopefully.

Whack! "No." With that, Gibbs entered the elevator and watched as Ziva turned to mock Tony.

_22 hours previously._

Gibbs sat down in the chair and waited for the man to sit across from him. He turned and picked up the phone.

"I know….I know there is nothing I can do to make up for what has happened."

"You mean for being a drunk and killing my wife and daughter."

"Yes." The man sighed and rubbed his forehead worriedly. " Agent Gibbs, you must listen to me. I need your help. You're the only one who can do this."

"I work for NCIS. We only deal with crimes involving navy people. I'm sorry about your ex-wife and your daughter. The police are working this case. I'm sure they'll do a good job."

"If you believed that you would have deleted my e-mail and not come down here. I can't go back in time and save your wife and daughter. You can save my Kristina. She's just a little girl; she's what two, three years younger than your daughter? You don't want her to die Agent Gibbs. Don't punish her for my mistakes. You're a good man, Mr. Gibbs and you're supposedly a good cop."

"NCIS Special Agent."

"We both know that if you do nothing now, when something happens to her it'll be your fault. I can't look for her. I can't find her. I can't help her. I can't even get the police to listen to me! I'm in prison. I have learned one thing in prison, Agent Gibbs. A guilty conscience is hard to carry. If something happens, you will never be able to forgive yourself for punishing her for the crimes of her father. Please help her. You can't save Kelly but you can save Kristina."

"I am not doing this to help you. Your life is pathetic and miserable. I hope you die the day before you're released; I will still testify at your parole hearing next month. But I will not punish your child for her father's sins. "

"Thank you."

Gibbs walked out of the room, leaving the phone swinging against the ledge. Why was he doing this? He couldn't bring back Kelly and he wasn't going to bring back Shannon. He stared at the photograph of Stover's kid. She might be almost fourteen years old, but really she was just a little girl. The big brown eyes had stared at him; he hadn't seen that innocence and life in a long time. Now the fun part would be explaining this mess to Jen….

_20 hours previously_

"Pardon me for making a silly mistake, but my understanding of NCIS is that we investigated crimes involving navy personnel."

Gibbs was impressed. Her sources were better than he had realized. Either that or she had actually given in and started bugging the bullpen. He could see her in her office, coffee cup in one hand while she carefully listened to every word spoken. Then again, she would have probably shot him by now if she had heard every conversation…

"Jen. Please. I can explain." She had no problem nearly killing part of his team, for her daddy-revenge scavenger hunts. "it's a favor, find a lost kid. Dad gets his daughter back and we get the credit for helping reunite a little family."

"Where the proud and worried father is a convicted felon and we managed to get the local cops to cooperate by taking over the murder investigation of the mother?"

"Something like that."

"Jethro. Why are you doing this? It….it's not going to bring anyone back." Even now, Jenny felt strange saying Kelly's and Shannon's names. The taboo surrounding their names, maybe it was Jethro's way of coping. They no longer existed, so he moved on. Except of course, he hadn't…

"I'm sorry Director. I didn't realize that the only missions that didn't pertain to navy personnel should deal with frogs."

"Temper tantrums aren't becoming Jethro. My office. Now."

"Lead the way. Madame Director."

And thus began the fight to end all fights. Cynthia had fled to the break room claiming to make coffee for the Director and Agent Gibbs. Only when she got there did she remember that Director Sheppard was on doctor's orders to avoid caffeine. Something about heart rates and stress levels. Of course, had the doctor realized her position, Director Sheppard may have been simply locked up in a hospital for her own good.

Cynthia returned to Ziva and Tony pressed against the door eargerly eavesdroping. Some American traditions the Israeli had caught onto quickly. "I thought McGee and Abby had set up some system to be played in Abby's lab?"

"No. Gibbs and Jenny found out. He made Abby make it visual only and only when Jenny activates the camera."

"Oh. Who's winning?"

"There hasn't been any bodily harm yet." Ziva whispered back.

"You know, there's more to a fight than just killing people." Tony retorted.

"Of course, but you still lose."

Cynthia sighed. Maybe she could run to legal and see if there was any pressing paperwork to collect for the Director. Knowing her luck she'd just get stuck deflecting questions. Lawyers may actually be more nosy than the investigators and not nearly as interesting. "Make sure you don't get caught. One day the director's going to think I'm tipping you off."

"You're not?" Tony grinned and replaced his ear against the door. "Oooh. Nice one director! Crap. Run!" With that he and Ziva scampered from the door and ran out Cynthia's office just in time for Gibbs to slam the door open.

"Was DiNozzo out here Cynthia?"

"I'm sorry Special Agent Gibbs?" Play dumb, Cynthia reminded herself and he might just believe you.

"You are not allowed to slap my secretary. So stop thinking about it Jethro." Director Sheppard called from her office. "Oh and Gibbs." He turned into her office. "I expect you to honor our agreement? I am not, and I will not explain to SecNavy our budget going over millions of dollars for your personal favors!"

When Cynthia entered the Director's office, she was sitting in front of her computer staring at the screen. "Director?"

"I'm fine Cynthia, but thank you."

Nodding, Cynthia closed the door.

_19 hours previously_

"Got anything for me Ducky?"

"I'm sorry sir, but Ducky just stepped out."

"Palmer? Well, you'll do. What happened?"

"Time of death was 17 hours ago. Cause of death was a gunshot wound to the center of the forehead. She was beaten up pretty badly and has numerous defensive wounds. Bruising and fluids in the pelvic region suggests she may have been raped. We sent samples to Abby for DNA testing. I think Ducky had a story for you?"

"Palmer, only Ducky can tell stories. You're just not that interesting."

Please review, y'all have so wonderful so far! Also, If anyone has any idea how to make paragraph indentations when you upload a story stay, you will be my personal hero!


	4. Turn Back Time Pt 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: Thank you all for the reviews. Your support has really helped!

_17 hours previously_

"There's nothing Gibbs, no trace of forced entry…"

"Sign Ziva! No Sign!" Tony exclaimed.

"Yes, yes one of those words. There is still nothing. It rained that night and the next day so most evidence was completely washed away along with any information. We can't even use dogs to trace her scent, especially since it's still raining now."

"Damn. Thanks Ziva. Dinozzo, have you found anything?"

"Well, Ducky had this really freaky story about mob intimidation tactics… but talking to co-workers and teachers didn't reveal too much. Supposedly Kristina was a typical kid, bubbly out-going sweet, and practically perfect, till about a few months ago. Then, when her parents began fighting over visitation rights, she became anti-social. Stopped speaking to the other kids, but she never caused any trouble so nothing was really done."

"So we have a typical anti-social thirteen year old dealing with family dysfunction?" Gibbs asked.

"Maybe boss, but something seemed off. I dunno. It's like the house. It's too nice."

"Ooh? Rich women scare you?"

"Not like that Ziva. She's a kindergarten aide. Do you know how little they make? I do."

"Slept with many?"

"Tend to be either young, stupid with great racks or old grandma types. The former yes. The latter… OW! Got it! But seriously, no money. How did she afford such a nice place? Great neighborhood, great house, great school system, it's got to be worth over a million if not two."

"That might be something we have to explore. Since you seem to understand the complexities, DiNozzo, you're in charge of chasing the money trail. Did anyone notice anything that night?" Looking at Ziva's and Tony's faces, he continued. "No one noticed?"

"No Boss. The storm would have drowned out the sound of the gunshot or anything else. Being the good polite neighbors they are, looking the other way may just seem polite."

"You Americans are so strange."

"Well, we can't all be ninjas."

"Enough DiNozzo. You go look into the financials. See if the money trail leads us to the killer and possibly Kristina. McGee, talk to local authorities, do your computer stuff and see if anything comes up. Ziva. You're with me."

"Oh and boss?"

"What DiNozzo?"

"Who's investigating the father?"

"The father is in prison DiNozzo."

"Yea. But his ex-wife, with whom he'd been fighting with recently over visitation rights just passed away in mysterious circumstances. I'm sure he's going to be relieved to no longer have to pay alimony and child support….isn't the spouse or ex always guilty?"

"He's in prison DiNozzo. I've been talking to him. I've got him covered."

"Just checking boss."

Gibbs sat down at his desk. He hated to admit it but Tony's question had caught him off guard. Question the father? Aleksander Stover was a drunk with a temper. But something like this required finesse. There were no prints, no murder weapon, and outside of the DNA Abby could find no hits off of, there was no indication that anyone besides Madeline and her daughter had been in that house. Maybe the body was moved? Kid killed her….no, Kelly couldn't have done that, he reminded himself. I couldn't have killed Shannon. I would be like Stover, desperate for information. DiNozzo is getting too paranoid…

_10 hours previously_

She was screaming for him to help save her. "Find me Daddy. Please!" He ran as fast as he could towards the shrieks of terror. By the time he reached her she had stopped screaming for him. She just lay there, eyes wide open in shock. In the silence he could almost hear her say, "I was waiting for you Dad."

"Kels." He breathed, lifting her lifeless body out of the pool of blood. "Come on baby. Breathe." He pushed her mouth open and blew into it. Then, he moved down to pound on her chest. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine…" Again and again he tried to save her. Nothing. Then, he a long sigh. "Shannon! Stay with me!" He turned to see her lying on her side, her red hair flowing down her shoulder. First, lost his daughter, now the love of his life. Weeping, he rolled Shannon onto her back. He couldn't live with them. He wasn't going to look, he didn't want to have the last image of her being lifeless and battered.

He sat there with his head buried in his hands as he realized he had to say goodbye. Hesitantly, he opened his eyes. "Jen?!"

Gasping, Gibbs sat up in bed. It was 2:10 AM. Carefully, he put his feet on the floor and lifted himself off the bed. He froze when it creaked, but Hollis didn't wake up. Then he crept down the hallway, down the basement stairs, and stopped in front of his boat. Picking up the warm glass of bourbon, he sat down on the floor. Staring at the glass, he asked. "Jen?"

Review? Please?


	5. Back to the Future

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Even though right now, if offered, I'm not to certain I'd want your show anyway. Judgment Day, WTF?

A/N: Thank you all for the reviews. I really wish a tv show would NOT kill off the characters I'm trying to ship. It's really quite rude.

_Three hours previously._

"We have a hit!" McGee exclaimed as Tony, Ziva and Gibbs scurried over.

"That's nice McGee. What did you find?"

"Greyhound reported a few hours ago a bus in Charlottesville had an extra passenger in the baggage. She fits the description of Kristina. Security had escorted her inside to call the police and she asked to use the restroom…"

"And she snuck out the bathroom window?" Gibbs frowned at the back of McGee's head. So close…

"Yup."

"Get packed. We're taking a road trip." Gibbs stalked off.

_15 minutes previously. _

A 9-11 call from a hysterical waitress reported that a girl fitting Kristina Stover's description was asleep in the booth next to the window.

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_The Present_

"Mr. Johnston, Mr. Bajramovic." Jenny Sheppard winced as she greeted the two men. Odds were very, very good that she had mispronounced the name of the man who claimed to be Kristina Stover's uncle. Odds were also very, very good that she had inadvertently insulted a man whose cooperation they may need. "I appreciate you both coming down NCIS headquarters. Have you two met?"

The two men shrugged and turned to each other. The younger man in the cheap and starting to fray suit turned, "Mr. Bar…jar…mo…vich? I am Eric Johnstons, the social worker assigned to your niece's case."

"It is a pleasure Mr. Johnston, but the only thing my niece needs is to come home to her family. Any child would be so distraught and scared being tracked down by the police. A few good nights of sleep and a few good meals, she will be fine. She needs no social worker." The old man bristled indignantly.

Fortunately, the social worker seemed to have had experience with such individuals. "I agree Sir. However, we're required by law just to keep her a 2 or 3 nights so a doctor can make sure that's all that happened to her. Then, we will be more than happy to hand her over to her relatives. Families can be so good at helping traumatized children; we only want to make sure what caused the trauma and how we can help you help Kristina."

Mr. Whatever-his-name that Jenny would never be able to pronounce nodded his head. Jen smiled. "If I may sir, a quick question?" Older eastern European men never wanted to seem under the control of a woman.

He nodded. "You are Kristina's paternal uncle, yes?"

"Yes. Aleksi's mother was my sister. Unfortunately she died too young and her husband never recovered. My wife and I eventually raised him as our own. You Americans sometimes grieve too well and forget that there is a future as well as a past."

"You have such excellent insight, Sir," Jenny smiled, thinking to herself, "Patronizing little prick!" She hoped Jethro had gotten somewhere talking to Kristina.

Review? Please?


	6. Master of the Interrogation?

Disclaimer: I am making absolutely nothing in writing this, so please don't sue.

A/N: Thanks y'all for the reviews. Please don't stop!

Gibbs sighed. "Here goes take 3." Dinozzo and Ziva nodded as he entered the room. They turned towards the window to see if the master would have any luck.

He walked into the room, casually dropping the box of pizza on the table. "You hungry?"

On the other side of the glass, Tony leaned into Ziva. "Classic distraction technique. You can either hold the food over them for information or you give them the food, making them warm and fuzzy and more inclined to trust you. I told you he was the best."

She whispered back to him. "I have seen children like this before. It won't work."

Kristina looked up from the table. "Yes."

Gibbs nudged the box in her direction. "Want some?"

Kristina nodded, opened the box, and stuffed a piece in her mouth. Five second later, she reached for a second piece.

"Does this mean we have established that she can eat?"

"You have no appreciation for subtle interrogation techniques Officer David." Tony whispered back.

"That's because they don't work!" Ziva hissed back. "Oh look, she stopped eating."

"The box is empty. Wait, was that a large?" Tony was impressed. He didn't even eat that fast.

"Thank you for the pizza." Kristina placed the corners of the top back into the box.

"Well….you're welcome." Gibbs paused. "Kristina, do you know why you're here?"

"No."

"We've been looking for you."

"Oh?"

"Do you want to know why?"

"No."

"Well, this was going over as well as a lead balloon." Gibbs mused. Maybe she'd appreciate bluntness? Kelly did always tend to like it when he'd explain it to her straight. Then, she'd immediately find some way to turn whatever he said back on himself and ending up guilting him into doing whatever he had been explaining was wrong. He smiled to himself. Then, he remembered that he was going to tell a girl that her mother was dead. Damn. "Kristina?"

She looked up at him. "Kristina, I have some very bad news for you."

"Oh?"

"You're here because we're conducting a murder investigation." Well, so far, so awkward. This was not going well. Whatever happened to blurting out the truth? He frowned. "Kristina, your mom's dead."

"Oh."

"That was it?!" Tony was shocked. Usually, people did something when they found out family members or loved ones were dead. Screamed, cried, denied, something. Blank acceptance was not…usual.

"I've seen this before." Her soft voice beside him shocked him back into reality.

"And the broken record award goes to Zheeva Daveed."

"Children we rescued from Hamas. They saw much more than adults should. The shrinks always said they would never recover."

"You proved them wrong?" Tony turned hopefully towards Ziva. Sometimes, she creeped him out.

She shrugged. "They make excellent assassins."

Before Tony could respond Abby ran down the hallway towards them. "We have something!" She exclaimed, grabbing Tony's arms and jumping. "Remember that gun you gave me? Turns out it's the one that killed Ms. Stover."

Tony froze. "Abby, that gun was pulled off of Kristina." Zhiva arched an eyebrow.

I tried mixing two conversations, was it too confusing? Thanks so much.


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